Source: www.databreachtoday.com – Author:
Business Continuity Management / Disaster Recovery , Fraud Management & Cybercrime , Governance & Risk Management
IT Outage, Downtime Procedures Affecting Services at California Healthcare Provider Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) • December 13, 2024
Cybercriminals claim they stole 17 million patient records from a southern California regional healthcare provider that is still struggling with IT and phone systems outages that have been disrupting patient care since the organization was hit by a ransomware attack on Dec. 1.
See Also: Using the Netskope HIPAA Mapping Guide
PIH Health, in a statement Wednesday, said three of its hospitals – Downey Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital and Whittier Hospital – as well as its urgent care centers, doctor offices, home health and hospice agency – are affected by the attack.
The organization serves more than 3 million residents in Los Angeles and Orange counties and throughout the San Gabriel Valley.
“PIH Health is working with cyber forensic specialists to assess the issue. Impacted individuals will be notified if protected health information is found to be compromised,” the statement said.
The organization in its statement did not mention claims of cybercriminals who reportedly faxed letters to PIH Health last week threatening to publish 2-terabytes of data containing millions of patients’ information that was stolen in the attack.
According to a report Thursday by the Los Angeles Daily News, the news outlet’s parent company, Southern California News Group, received a copy of the threat actors’ letter from a PIH Health employee.
“Be informed, there was a Ghost in your network!” the letter said, according to the LA Daily News. “So the ghost has taken your data as evidence, and if you’re not going to cooperate and make a deal, then all your confidential files will be published on the internet.”
The letter does not mention a specific ransom demand or identify the cybercriminal gang claiming responsibility for the attack, LA Daily News said.
Affected Patient Services
As it deals with its IT outage, PIH Health said its emergency room and urgent care centers are still open, and all facilities, including hospitals, medical offices, home health, hospice, imaging and laboratory service are operating under the organization’s downtime procedures.
“We are doing everything possible to minimize cancellations, but some procedures and surgeries may be cancelled due to the technology issues,” PIH said.
“The physician’s office or hospital will contact you if rescheduling is necessary.” Online appointment scheduling is unavailable due to the outage.
PIH Health outpatient laboratories and radiology departments are also open. “However, because we do not have access to any electronic orders, you must bring a paper copy of your physician order to your appointment. You may have to visit your physician’s office if you do not have a copy of the original order,” PIH told patients in the statement.
Test results may take longer than usual as PIH works through the situation, the PIH added.
Patient drug prescription processes at its pharmacies also are affected, including refills of existing prescriptions and new orders.
“Bring your most recent medication container from a PIH Health pharmacy with the label on to any PIH Health pharmacy. Our team can use the details to refill it for you,” PIH said, adding that its pharmacies are currently only accepting cash payments.
For filling new prescriptions, PIH is instructing patients to bring a paper prescription from their physician, “including their name and phone number, along with your most current prescription insurance card, to the PIH Health or retail pharmacy. However, PIH Health Pharmacies cannot fulfill controlled substances from a paper prescription.”
PIH said has reported the network outage to law enforcement, including local police and fire departments, and is working with the FBI.
PIH did not immediately respond to Information Security Media Group’s request for additional details about the incident and for comment regarding the cybercriminals’ claims.
The recent ransomware attack is not PIH’s only major hacking incident. In 2020, the organization reported an email phishing breach affecting 200,000 people, resulting in flurry of class action lawsuits (see: Law Firms Race to File Phishing Breach Lawsuits).
By Friday, several law firms were already circling PIH.
“If you received a notification that your personal data has been exposed on the dark web or believe that your information was impacted by this data breach, you may be entitled to compensation,” said Lynch Carpenter LLP in a public statement on Wednesday. Multiple national law firms claim to be investigating the PIH incident.
Wider Impact
If the ransomware threat actors’ claims about stealing 17 million patient records are accurate, the PIH Health incident could potentially become the second-largest health data breach this year, based on major breaches posted as of Friday on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ HIPAA Breach Reporting Tool website.
Mike Hamilton, field CISO at security Lumifi, predicts these kinds of disruptive cyber assaults and data thefts in healthcare and other sectors will continue through 2025 – unless the U.S. government takes action.
“Neither market forces nor regulation are working to protect healthcare from cybercrime and intentional disruption,” he said. “None of this will stop until the federal government gets serious about treating the country’s logical border as if it were a physical border and use allow-listing to receive only preauthorized traffic,” he said. “If China can do it with their ‘great firewall,’ so can the United States.”
In addition, “a national privacy statute that supersedes states’ private right of action will help to preserve what’s left of healthcare in the United States, rather than continuing to sue hospitals out of existence,” he said.
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